The Off Topic Topic

[Admiral Yi]

Whaaaaaat? Spain is now more productive than Germany? Either it's time to gloat massively or that was terribly calculated. 

Actually not totally counterintuitive.  It's pretty common in countries that are suffering massive unemployment for the people who still have jobs to produce a shitload.

[Eddie Teach]

There has been a significant uptick in burrito consumption at the cost of fried chicken since moving to California.

[The Larch]

Whaaaaaat? Spain is now more productive than Germany? Either it's time to gloat massively or that was terribly calculated. 

Actually not totally counterintuitive.  It's pretty common in countries that are suffering massive unemployment for the people who still have jobs to produce a shitload.

If that's the reason then Portugal is trully fucked.

[DGuller]

Actually not totally counterintuitive.  It's pretty common in countries that are suffering massive unemployment for the people who still have jobs to produce a shitload.

Fear of getting laid off certain aids that, ahem, production.

[alfred russel]

Actually not totally counterintuitive.  It's pretty common in countries that are suffering massive unemployment for the people who still have jobs to produce a shitload.

Fear of getting laid off certain aids that, ahem, production.

The classic reason is that the first people to hit the unemployment line are the less productive employees. The result is that the average productivity for those with jobs goes up.

[Admiral Yi]

I call up Netzero to cancel my account (about a year overdue) and first they put me on hold for 10 minutes, and when I finally get through they have to pitch me three seperate free for one month services before they finally, mercifully let me go.

[garbon]

I didn't realize NetZero still existed.

[MadImmortalMan]

So Lebanon's government is kaput I guess. Wasn't the PM Hamas-backed?

[MadImmortalMan]

Uh...that's for my voice lessons. Yeah.

A Canadian voice coach is creating a buzz with his unusual technique of using vibrators to help his students hit the high notes.

University of Alberta drama professor David Ley uses the sex toys to massage the throats of actors and singers.

"I know it's a bit different. I know there's a giggle factor, but it works. It relaxes tension in the larynx, it improves range and projection," he told MetroNews.ca.

He was looking for an alternative to massaging the larynx by hand, for people who hate the feel of fingers on their throat, when he discovered the technique.

That led him to a sex shop where he found some vibrators that had a frequency around 100 and 120 hertz, the range of the human voice. He tried some on a student with good results.

"Not only did it free tension in the laryngeal muscles, but it seemed to stimulate vibrations in the vocal folds," Prof Ley told said.

"What I'm trying to do is to help the person hit that high note or harness their emotional energy.

"Hopefully, like any good training tool, it's something that gets you somewhere and helps you maintain it, but once you're there, you're there."

[fhdz]

"Hopefully, like any good training tool, it's something that gets you somewhere and helps you maintain it, but once you're there, you're there."

Indeed!

[MadImmortalMan]

So there's this big pack of auditors from the government visiting the office atm. Five of them I think. I think it's a condition of the business we do with them. My question is, why are they all here? All of our financial systems are specifically built so that our employees all across the country can access and use them. It would be the easiest thing in the world for us to simply give these dudes access from DC. But no, Uncle Sam has to blow the extra cash and burn the extra fossil fuels to fly them all here so they can blow their salaries on hookers and blackjack.

[garbon]

That doesn't really seem like a question.

[MadImmortalMan]

That doesn't really seem like a question.

Well, there might be a good reason for it. I just don't know what it is.

[Neil]

So there's this big pack of auditors from the government visiting the office atm. Five of them I think. I think it's a condition of the business we do with them. My question is, why are they all here? All of our financial systems are specifically built so that our employees all across the country can access and use them. It would be the easiest thing in the world for us to simply give these dudes access from DC. But no, Uncle Sam has to blow the extra cash and burn the extra fossil fuels to fly them all here so they can blow their salaries on hookers and blackjack.

Executives get perks.

[Phillip V]

So there's this big pack of auditors from the government visiting the office atm. Five of them I think. I think it's a condition of the business we do with them. My question is, why are they all here? All of our financial systems are specifically built so that our employees all across the country can access and use them. It would be the easiest thing in the world for us to simply give these dudes access from DC. But no, Uncle Sam has to blow the extra cash and burn the extra fossil fuels to fly them all here so they can blow their salaries on hookers and blackjack.

Taxpayer recently flew me to Germany for 2 weeks of "training" and "consulting".